Comparison

Saws All vs Patchsynth

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Saws All

Features
Read full description

It started as an amusing idea: an 8-channel drone engine that only uses sawtooth waves called the Saws All. With trigger lengths, timing controls, and extended LFOs, the drone engine quickly became a canvas for ambient soundscapes, arps, and chords. That inspired a new challenge: create an 8-channel drum synth that uses sawtooths instead of sine waves, powered by beat probability for manageable randomness instead of a standard step sequencer. Finally, a fuzzy mono-synth was born and split into two faces—bass and lead—to fill in the gaps. The project officially evolved into something beyond expectation. Saws All is a beautiful-sounding sawtooth groovebox with a quirky workflow and a massive amount of character. Spend hours playing with drones and exploring melodic polyrhythms and percussive chaos. -The Engine & Features- • Sawtooth Drone Engine: 8 independent channels that can drone endlessly or trigger for set lengths and rests. Set different waiting periods across channels to generate lush, complex polyrhythms. Shape your sound with bitcrushing, delay, and 6 LFOs per channel (pitch, panning, filter, plus 2 customizable slots) to craft gliding drones, arps, chords, and wild effect rhythms. • Probability Drum Synth: 8 channels of physical drum modeling driven by beat probability for the perfect blend of groove and evolving randomness, replacing the rigid loops of a standard step sequencer. • Dual Fuzz Synths: Dedicated Bass and Lead mono-synths with virtual keybeds and dynamic pitch ribbons to fill out your low-end and melodies. • Performance Mode: Customize macro pads on the fly to trigger live FX, tape stops, stutters, and more using the universal recorder. • Song Mode: Save scenes, arrange full songs, and bounce your tracks directly to high-quality audio files. • Share Your Sounds: Export and share individual scenes, drum models, or entire projects with friends using lightweight JSON files. • Pro Mode: Turn off the guardrails. Take parameters deeper and bypass factory limits with manual value inputs. -Interactive Audio-Worlds- Kick back, close your eyes, and listen to your creation—or dive into our unique, interactive visualizers designed specifically for this app. Play games, watch dance-offs and slug-hunting ant colonies, or launch fireworks. Every world reacts and syncs perfectly to your music's tempo, frequencies, and individual channels. No ads. No subscriptions. All local. All private. Get lost in saws.

About

Patchsynth

Features
Read full description

Patchsynth is a Eurorack-style modular synthesizer for iPhone and iPad — and a place to actually learn how modular synthesis works, one patch cable at a time. Instead of a fixed synth engine with knobs, you build your own instrument by dragging cables between modules: oscillators into filters, envelopes into amplifiers, LFOs wobbling anything you point them at. If you've ever wanted to understand what a Eurorack rig actually does, this is the fastest way in. LEARN BY PATCHING, NOT BY READING 28 hands-on Lessons cover every module, from your first oscillator to full generative patches — some just explain, others build a real patch step-by-step in front of you as you tap "Next." No prior synthesis knowledge required. TRAIN YOUR EAR 15 Challenges hide a patch and play it for you — your job is to rebuild it by ear, with hints if you get stuck. A genuinely fun way to internalize how filters, envelopes, and modulation actually sound. 21 REAL MODULES Oscillator · Filter · VCA · ADSR Envelope · LFO · Noise · Delay · Reverb · Mixer · Sequencer · Arpeggiator · Clock · Attenuverter · Quantizer · Slew Limiter · Sample & Hold · Logic · Ring Modulator · Sampler · Keyboard · Output (with a live oscilloscope) Record your own sounds with the Sampler, or use the built-in factory drum kit. Quantize any CV to a musical scale. Chain multiple clocks for polyrhythms. It's a real modular rig, just without the cables costing $30 each. 70+ FACTORY PATCHES From simple bass and pad sounds to sprawling, 20+ module "flagship" patches — browse them, load them, take them apart to see how they're wired, then make them your own. PLAY IT WITH REAL GEAR Full MIDI support over Bluetooth or USB — plug in any MIDI keyboard or controller and play your patch's Keyboard module directly, no setup beyond pairing. BUILT FOR TOUCH, NOT PORTED FROM DESKTOP Every interaction — dragging cables, turning knobs, panning and zooming a big patch — is designed for a phone screen from the ground up. A dedicated Patch Bay view even gives you a spreadsheet-style matrix of every connection when patches get complex. Undo and redo everything. Save as many patches as you like. No ads, no in-app purchases, no internet connection required — just synthesis.

Screenshots

Saws All4 screens
Patchsynth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Patchsynth at $7.99 against Saws All's $9.99. Saws All's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Saws All costs $9.99 and Patchsynth $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 3 level
Saws All versus Patchsynth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSaws AllPatchsynth
Price$9.99$7.99 — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperANCIENT APPARATUS LLCMartin Adler

In-app purchases

None

Saws All

No in-app purchases

None

Patchsynth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Saws All free?
Saws All costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Patchsynth free?
Patchsynth costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Saws All or Patchsynth have ads?
Neither Saws All nor Patchsynth shows ads.

Other comparisons